sutton-images.com McLaren puts Ron Dennis on leave
16.11.2016
E s is the end of an era. Ron Dennis has been on leave as CEO of the McLaren Technology Group. The British company officially announced this on Tuesday (November 15, 2016). The McLaren Technology Group includes the Formula 1 team, the auto division and McLaren Applied Technologies.
158 victories in 35 years under Dennis
The 69-year-old Englishman, whose contract as managing director is still in place runs until January 2017, sued the court last week against his dismissal, but his application failed. He cannot understand his end as head of the company. Dennis speaks of 'flimsy reasons'. The Formula 1 veteran remains a shareholder in McLaren and still sits on the board. He owns 25 percent of McLaren. The remaining company shares belong to the Bahraini investment fund Mumtalakat (50 percent) and the Saudi Arabian businessman Mansour Ojjeh (25 percent). Dennis had been at odds with the major shareholders for some time. His last attempt to appease them with new investors and fresh money from China failed.
Dennis joined McLaren in November 1980 after a merger with his Project Four racing team. That is why all of the team's racing cars have the abbreviation “MP4” (McLaren Project Four). With a hard hand and surgical precision, the Briton led the racing team to 17 World Cup trophies - ten of which were drivers and seven constructors' titles. McLaren has celebrated 158 of its 182 GP victories over the past 35 years. After Ferrari, the British team is the most successful racing team in history.
In 2009, Dennis retired from day-to-day business at McLaren and handed it over to Martin Whitmarsh. After five years, however, he took over the command bridge again and installed two governors: Eric Boullier as team boss and, most recently, Jost Capito as CEO of the racing team. For Dennis, however, the rule over McLaren is finally over.
